France's Antoine Dupont has been handed a four-game ban for his red card against South Africa, while the Springboks' Pieter-Steph du Toit has been suspended for three games for his dismissal.

Dupont was shown red after a dangerous collision with South Africa winger Cheslin Kolbe in France's 30-26 win on Saturday.

Du Toit was also sent off for a clearout of Jonathan Danty in the same game.

Assuming there is no successful appeal, Dupont will miss France's game against Japan on Sunday, as well as three matches for Toulouse, including their Champions Cup opener against Munster next month.

Du Toit will be absent for South Africa's upcoming games against England and Italy, as well as a third match to be confirmed.

Johnny Sexton is fit enough to captain Ireland for their final Autumn Nations Series Test in Dublin on Saturday against a much-changed Australia, who are looking to hit back from a shock loss to Italy.

Sexton suffered a dead leg in the victory over South Africa earlier this month and did not feature in last weekend's 35-17 triumph over Fiji.

But the fly-half returns to the team for the match against Australia in one of seven alterations from that Fiji win, as the likes of Hugo Keenan, Josh van der Flier and Peter O'Mahony start.

Andrew Porter and Dan Sheehan return to the front row, while James Ryan comes into the second row.

Ireland will be without Joey Carbery and Robbie Henshaw, who both miss out through injury.

Australia are hoping to bounce back from their first ever defeat to Italy last weekend, from which just four starters remain.

Mark Nawaqanitawase and Tom Wright stay on the wings, but James Slipper returns to captain in what will be his 126th Test.

Andrew Kellaway starts at fullback, as Dave Rennie opts to keep the centre pairing of Hunter Paisami and Len Ikitau, while Allan Alaalatoa continues in the front row.

Ireland team: Hugo Keenan, Mack Hansen, Garry Ringrose, Stuart McCloskey, Jimmy O'Brien, Jonny Sexton (captain), Jamison Gibson Park; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong, Tadhg Beirne, James Ryan, Peter O'Mahony, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris.

Replacements: Rob Herring, Cian Healy, Finlay Bealham, Joe McCarthy, Jack Conan, Craig Casey, Jack Crowley, Bundee Aki.

Australia team: Andrew Kellaway, Mark Nawaqanitawase, Len Ikitau, Hunter Paisami, Tom Wright, Bernard Foley, Nic White; James Slipper (captain), David Porecki, Allan Alaalatoa, Nick Frost, Cadeyrn Neville, Jed Holloway, Michael Hooper, Rob Valentini.

Replacements: Folau Fainga'a, Tom Robertson, Taniela Tupou, Will Skelton, Pete Samu, Jake Gordon, Noah Lolesio, Jordan Petaia.

Owen Farrell and Brodie Retallick will win their 100th caps when England and New Zealand do battle at Twickenham on Saturday.

Retallick returns from a three-week suspension for his red card against Japan last month and will become just the 12th player to hit a century of appearances for the All Blacks.

Farrell will win his 100th cap alongside the returning Manu Tuilagi in England's midfield, while 21-year-old scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet will make his third appearance after an impressive start to his international career.

Vice-captain Jack Nowell will start in England's back three, along with Jonny May and Freddie Steward, after recovering from an injury that forced him out of the comprehensive 52-13 victory over Japan last weekend.

Maro Itoje is moved back into the second row as Sam Simmonds is set to start at blindside flanker, while Billy Vunipola takes the number eight jersey.

For the All Blacks, Retallick's return means he and captain Sam Whitelock will set a new world record of starting 64 Test matches together, previously held by South Africa's Bakkies Botha and Victor Matfield.

Mark Telea will hope to follow up his two-try debut as he starts on the wing again, while Retallick's milestone appearance means Scott Barrett will play the blindside flanker role.

 

England team: Freddie Steward, Jack Nowell, Manu Tuilagi, Owen Farrell (captain), Jonny May, Marcus Smith, Jack van Poortvliet; Ellis Genge, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Kyle Sinckler, Maro Itoje, Jonny Hill, Sam Simmonds, Tom Curry, Billy Vunipola.

Replacements: Jamie George, Mako Vunipola, Will Stuart, David Ribbans, Jack Willis, Ben Youngs, Guy Porter, Henry Slade.

New Zealand team: Beauden Barrett, Mark Telea, Rieko Ioane, Jordie Barrett, Caleb Clarke, Richie Mo'unga, Aaron Smith; Ethan de Groot, Codie Taylor, Tyrel Lomax, Brodie Retallick, Sam Whitelock (captain), Scott Barrett, Dalton Papali'i, Ardie Savea.

Replacements: Samisoni Taukei'aho, George Bower, Nepo Laulala, Shannon Frizell, Hoskins Sotutu, TJ Perenara, David Havili, Anton Lienert-Brown.

Ireland will be without Robbie Henshaw and Joey Carbery in their final Autumn Nations Series Test against Australia on Saturday.

Centre Henshaw suffered a hamstring injury during a 35-17 win over Fiji last weekend and will continue his rehabilitation at Leinster.

Carbery was replaced early in the second half of that victory at the Aviva Stadium with a head injury and the fly-half will complete the return to play protocols with Munster.

Johnny Sexton, James Ryan, Andrew Porter, Josh van der Flier and Hugo Keenan will be monitored ahead of the clash with the Wallabies in Dublin after sustaining knocks in the win over South Africa.

Jimmy O'Brien will complete the head injury assessment [HIA] process on Monday and is expected to be back in training on Tuesday.

Joe McCarthy has got through the HIA process and is back in the fold along with Bundee Aki, who has completed a suspension.

Meanwhile, Ireland boss Andy Farrell was on Monday shortlisted for the World Rugby Coach of the Year award after guiding the team to the top of the rankings.

Fabien Galthie, the France head coach, New Zealand women's head coach Wayne Smith and England Women's head coach Simon Middleton are the other contenders for the gong.

Scotland coach Gregor Townsend says his side missed "the best opportunity in our history" to defeat New Zealand for the first time on Sunday.

A Stuart Hogg penalty try and Darcy Graham crossing over, coupled with a trio of penalties for Finn Russell, helped Scotland into a 23-14 second-half lead at Murrayfield.

But points from the boot of Jordie Barrett and a Jack Dempsey sin-bin allowed the All Blacks to fight back before Scott Barrett and Mark Telea bundled over to maintain New Zealand's streak in Scotland.

The All Blacks have not lost in 32 Tests against Scotland, stretching back 117 years, and Townsend acknowledged his team squandered a glorious opportunity after a 31-23 defeat.

"We're disappointed. There was so much to be proud of but we didn't see it through," he told Amazon Prime.

"It was a show of resilience after going 14-0 down to one of the best teams in the world, but we didn't get the win.

"You don't get to play New Zealand very often and that's the best opportunity in our history we've had to beat them."

The manner of defeat added greater frustration for Scotland, given they led 17-14 against New Zealand at half-time for just a third time in history, with the other two occurrences coming in 1905 and 1990.

Scotland captain Jamie Ritchie acknowledged the missed opportunity after the match, though he dedicated the performance to Doddie Weir, who was in attendance to mark five years since the launch of his charity that raises awareness of motor neurone disease.

"It's tough to be on the wrong side of the result. We were there or thereabouts for 70 minutes," Ritchie said. "It's some of the best rugby we've played over the last three weeks and I'm so proud of the players.

"We're glad we could put on a decent show for Doddie [Weir], just a shame we couldn't get the win. We spoke about being brave today and nothing defines brave more than Doddie."

Ian Foster had come under scrutiny for an underwhelming 2022 for the All Blacks, though praised New Zealand's fightback after they collected their sixth straight Test win.

"It was a tough game. I thought Scotland were tremendous, they put us under a lot of pressure," the All Blacks coach said. "Our bench was strong and that strength and composure was important.

"It was a high penalty count game and that allowed Scotland to get into our half too often, so we need to work on that.

"It would have been easy for us to panic in the last 15 minutes and [captain] Sam Whitelock deserves a lot of credit for keeping the boys calm."

Mark Telea scored two tries on debut as New Zealand mounted a second-half comeback to maintain their unbeaten streak over Scotland after a 31-23 victory at Murrayfield.

Late tries for Scott Barrett and Telea saw the All Blacks defend their perfect record against Scotland, who squandered a 23-14 lead as they failed to defeat the All Blacks for a 32nd straight Test.

The All Blacks raced into a two-try advantage as debutant Telea's driving run teed up Samisoni Taukei'aho before the winger crossed over himself four minutes later on Sunday.

But Scotland fought back amid a frenetic start as Anton Lienert-Brown was sin-binned for a Stuart Hogg penalty try, with Darcy Graham capitalising on the one-man advantage to dive over in the 14th minute.

Finn Russell's penalty ensured Scotland led New Zealand at half-time in a Test for just a third time in history, before the fly-half added another six points with his boot from range after the interval.

However, a Jordie Barrett penalty and Jack Dempsey sin-bin saw the All Blacks battle back before Scott Barrett and Telea bundled over to keep their 117-year unbeaten run against Scotland going.

France made it a record-extending 12 Test victories in a row with a thrilling late 30-26 win over South Africa in Marseille on Saturday in a contest that saw both sides have a player sent off.

South Africa trailed 13-0 after Pieter-Steph du Toit was dismissed early on for catching Jonathan Danty in the head, either side of a couple of Thomas Ramos penalties, before Cyril Baille stretched over the line. 

But the reigning world champions responded through a Cheslin Kolbe penalty and a try from Siya Kolisi, who darted around the side after a collapsing maul, though Ramos ensured France still retained a six-point lead at the break by kicking over another penalty.

Kolbe and Ramos added further points from the boot for their respective sides early in an action-packed second half, which sparked into life when Antoine Dupont was sent off for his challenge on Kolbe to level up the sides at 14 players each.

South Africa wasted no time in taking the lead for the first time through Kurt-Lee Arendse's score in the right corner following a driving maul, which Faf de Klerk added to with another penalty.

But after Ramos and Paul Willemse found the sticks to keep the scoreline tight, there was to be another twist as Deon Fourie was sin-binned with 10 minutes to go and France profited when Sipili Falatea crashed over in the third phase of play, with Ramos adding three more points to seal a statement win a year out from the World Cup.

Dave Rennie admits his Australia team were "not good enough" as they were beaten by Italy for the first time ever on Saturday.

Full-back Ange Capuozzo scored two tries as Italy claimed a 28-27 victory over the Wallabies in Florence.

Australia's debutant fly-half Ben Donaldson missed a late conversion to win the game as his team fell to a historic defeat.

Rennie was frustrated with his side's performance, telling reporters: "We didn't play well enough.

"We gave them a head start at 17-3, gave them hope and enthusiasm and brought the crowd into the game.

"We didn't dominate up front as we would have hoped. We gave them field position through penalties and turnovers

"It is hugely disappointing and not good enough. All I can say is the boys are hurt; they know we are better than that."

Rennie refused to blame Donaldson for the loss, despite his late miss.

"It's tough. He's hurting but we have an arm around him," Rennie added.

"You can always look at the last few seconds of the game, but there was lots we did wrong earlier to put Ben in that position.

"We feel for him but it is not the reason we lost today."

Italy had previously lost all 18 meetings with Australia, stretching all the way back to 1973.

Hooker Gianmarco Lucchesi spoke of his delight at the win, saying: "I have so many amazing emotions – it's an incredible victory.

"We felt we could do it from the first minute. We went out on the field with the right spirit, and attacked and defended really well."

England head coach Eddie Jones secured a 59th win in charge against former side Japan to equal Clive Woodward's record.

After a shock defeat to Argentina last time out, England responded on Saturday with a dominant 52-13 victory against Japan at Twickenham, where Guy Porter scored his first two international tries and Marcus Smith also went over twice.

The record-equalling win left Jones pleased with his side's performance, stating that his team "looked like England".

"We played more like ourselves. Last week we were too long term in our view, which was my fault and today we were focused. We left 20 points out there and played some really good rugby," he told Prime Video.

"It's about playing to our strengths. You want people to recognise an England team playing, and we need to adopt a new style. But today we looked like England. We were in white shirts which might have made a difference."

Woodward, who managed England to Rugby World Cup glory in 2003, had criticised Jones after England's loss to Argentina, writing in the Daily Mail: "It was more than a bad day at the office and I had the feeling that few really cared.

"The RFU kept playing naff music throughout the match and I spent half the afternoon standing up because people were back and forth buying beers.

"The atmosphere felt artificial and contrived and, to top it off, England's performance was so bad. Everyone was bored out of their brains."

England are back in action next Saturday against New Zealand, then conclude their Autumn Nations Series against South Africa the following week.

Mark Telea will make his New Zealand debut when Ian Foster's side go in search of a sixth consecutive win in Sunday's clash with Scotland at Murrayfield.

The All Blacks maintained their remarkable 69-year unbeaten run against Wales by racking up a dominant 55-23 success in Cardiff last Saturday, but Foster has opted to ring the changes for Sunday's Test.

Blues wing Telea is one of the chief beneficiaries of Foster's decision to make seven changes, and the 25-year-old is thrilled by the prospect of making his international debut.

"I was just chilling, waiting for someone else's name to get called out, and I was kind of surprised. It's straight into homework after this," Telea said.

"It's more special for my family, for all the work they've seen me putting through and the outcome of it all – that's why it's special.

"I told my mum, my dad and my sister and they were overjoyed – tears through their eyes. The old man was happy, he's been there from the beginning and seen all the hard work."

Caleb Clarke is the only man to retain his place in the All Blacks' backline following the win over Wales, allowing David Havili and Anton Lienert-Brown – whose last Test start came against Ireland in November 2021 – to slot in.

With Richie Mo'unga rested, Beauden Barrett moves from full-back to first-five, with Scottish-born half-back Finlay Christie also being handed a start against his country of birth.

With New Zealand posting a strong run of form since suffering a shock Rugby Championship defeat to Argentina in August, Foster is intrigued to see how his much-changed team will fare. 

"We've selected a team that excites us this week," Foster said. "In many ways, this Test is crucial for our tour as a whole, and it's a chance to show how we're building as a group."

Scotland have made three changes on the back of last week's 28-12 win over Fiji, meanwhile, with Finn Russell earning his 64th cap after being recalled to the starting XV.

Russell, who has not been involved since the Six Nations in March, is drafted into the side along with hooker Fraser Brown and centre Sione Tuipulotu.

Scotland: Hogg; Graham, Harris, Tuipulotu, Van der Merwe; Russell, Price; Schoeman, Brown, Z Fagerson, R Gray, Gilchrist, Ritchie, Watson, M Fagerson.

Replacements: Ashman, Sutherland, Nel, J Gray, Dempsey, White, Kinghorn, Bennett.

New Zealand: Barrett, Telea, Lienert-Brown, Havili, Clarke, Barrett, Christie; De Groot, Taukei'aho, Laulala, Whitelock, Barrett, Akira Ioane, Papali'i, Savea. 

Replacements: Taylor, Bower, Newell, Vaa'i, Frizell, Perenara, Perofeta, Rieko Ioane.

Sam Simmonds and Jack van Poortvliet will start for England against Japan at Twickenham on Sunday.

Eddie Jones has named five changes from the shock 30-29 defeat to Argentina last weekend as they prepare to face Japan, who he coached between 2012 and 2015.

Number eight Simmonds has not featured for England since the Six Nations in March but comes in for Billy Vunipola, who drops to the bench.

Alex Coles is replaced by debutant David Ribbans at lock while Van Poortvliet, who scored within 30 seconds of coming on the pitch against Argentina, will start at scrum-half.

Jonny May also comes in for Joe Cokanasiga and Guy Porter is the final introduction as he is chosen to start over Manu Tuilagi at outside centre.

Owen Farrell will captain England and earn his 99th international cap, while hooker Jamie George is on the bench after recovering from a foot injury.

England team to face Japan: 15. Freddie Steward, 14. Jack Nowell, 13. Guy Porter, 12. Owen Farrell (c), 11. Jonny May, 10. Marcus Smith, 9. Jack van Poortvliet; 1. Ellis Genge, 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3. Kyle Sinckler, 4. David Ribbans, 5. Jonny Hill, 6. Maro Itoje, 7. Tom Curry, 8. Sam Simmonds.

Replacements: 16. Jamie George, 17. Mako Vunipola, 18. Joe Heyes, 19. Alex Coles, 20. Billy Vunipola, 21. Ben Youngs, 22. Henry Slade, 23. Manu Tuilagi.

Eddie Jones believes England's loss to Argentina was partly down to being too focused on next year's Rugby World Cup as he accepted full responsibility for the defeat.

England were on the end of a surprise 30-29 reverse at a packed Twickenham on Sunday – only their second ever home defeat to Argentina.

The sides will meet again in their opening match of the 2023 World Cup next September, which Jones already had one eye on heading into last weekend's battle in London.

"When your team doesn't play to the potential you want, there is always something in the message that you're giving the team that's not quite clear," he said.

"We've been looking at a number of long-term strategies to get ourselves set for the World Cup. Maybe our focus wasn't tight enough on the Argentina game. 

"Maybe we were over-thinking a bit, and that's entirely my fault."

England reached the final in 2019 and are among the favourites to lift the trophy next year, alongside New Zealand, Ireland, hosts France and reigning champions South Africa.

The Red Rose endured another disappointing Six Nations campaign earlier this year, but they recovered with a battling 2-1 series win in Australia prior to losing to Argentina.

With less than a year to go before the World Cup begins, Jones is hoping to further develop his squad in time for the tournament.

"There are a cluster of teams at the top of world rugby," he said. "We want to break that cluster. To do that we have to have a number of different ways to play the game.

"This next 11 months is to get enough equipment in our armoury to play any way. 

"England rugby is traditionally about power rugby, winning the set-piece, smashing down the gain-line, but we have to learn from the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

"In the final, we came up against a side that had more power than us, and we were unable to beat them at that game."

England have made three changes to their 36-man squad for Saturday's showdown with Japan at Twickenham, which is followed by Tests against New Zealand and South Africa.

Conor Murray will miss the remainder of Ireland's Autumn Nations Series campaign after sustaining a groin strain in Saturday's 19-16 win over South Africa.

Murray saw his 100th cap end in disappointing fashion when he was forced off in the first half in Dublin, but Ireland handled his absence admirably to seal a 10th consecutive home triumph.

On Monday, a squad update issued by the world's top-ranked side revealed Murray was to return to Munster to undergo rehabilitation and would play no part in Saturday's meeting with Fiji.

Stuart McCloskey and Tadhg Furlong joined the scrum-half in making an early exit against the Springboks, but both are expected to take part in training this week.

Captain Johnny Sexton is also said to be "recovering well" after suffering a dead leg, while Leinster's Robbie Henshaw is set to return this week after missing the South Africa fixture due to a hamstring injury.

Meanwhile, Ulster lock Iain Henderson has returned to Andy Farrell's squad, and uncapped Leinster prop Michael Milne has also been called up.

Ireland are just two home victories away from matching the longest such winning streak in their history (12 between November 2016 and November 2018) and welcome both Fiji and Australia to the Aviva Stadium before the end of November. 

Finn Russell has been called up to the Scotland squad ahead of Sunday's Test against New Zealand after Adam Hastings suffered a head injury.

Fly-half Hastings has returned to Gloucester after suffering a heavy knock in a tackle from Ratu Leone Rotuisolia early in the second half of a 28-12 win over Fiji on Saturday.

Russell was dropped for the Autumn Nations Series, but the mercurial Racing 92 number 10 is back in the fold in the absence of Hastings.

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend had omitted playmaker Russell due to question marks over his "form and consistency".

Blair Kinghorn came on to replace Hastings at Murrayfield last weekend, while Ross Thompson is another fly-half option for Townsend.

The All Blacks will face Scotland on the back of a resounding 55-23 win over Wales at the Principality Stadium on Saturday.

England boss Eddie Jones said his team were "not good enough" and captain Owen Farrell raised discipline worries after a surprising 30-29 defeat to Argentina at Twickenham.

In front of an 80,000 full house, the home side were edged out by the Pumas, getting their Autumn Nations Series campaign off to a rocky start.

Head coach Jones said England were left "chasing our tail" after letting a half-time lead slip away.

"We made silly mistakes, but I like the way the team went about it. We didn't finish well, there was that lack of cohesion," Jones said on Amazon Prime Video.

"It's not good enough – we realise it's not good enough. We kept making fundamental mistakes."

As Argentina celebrated a first win against England since 2009 and a first at Twickenham since 2006, the defeated hosts set about working out what went wrong.

They allowed Emiliano Boffelli and Santiago Carreras to cross for second-half tries, with Boffelli finishing with 25 points in all thanks to his strong kicking performance.

Farrell said England must show a response, with matches against Japan, New Zealand and South Africa to come this month.

"We've got a long way to go this autumn and need to make sure we don't drop any confidence because of this," Farrell said.

On a boggy surface, England failed to cope as well as their visitors, and Farrell said: "We kind of let the pressure off a lot of the times. We played the game we thought we needed. It's a wet, wet pitch and both teams didn't really move the ball that well.

"We weren't at our best, definitely not, and that's what were here to do, to get the best out of ourselves.

"We'll have a good look. There were some good bits, and it felt like it was coming. I just think a bit of discipline and errors of not quite being on the same page at times cost us that extra bit of momentum, what it takes to get in front and stay in front."

Boffelli said Michael Cheika's victorious team would enjoy their big moment.

He said: "I'm very happy, we are very happy. Tomorrow we will think about Wales, that follows. We spoke about how we must try to stay close in the score."

Speaking about the influence of Australian coach Cheika, who guided Argentina to wins over Australia and New Zealand in this year's Rugby Championship, Boffelli said: "Everyone knows Michael Cheika as a coach, and it's very important for us.

"He has experience in international rugby and he is confident in us, and that's good. I'm very happy with that, but the team did a good day."

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